Remembering a Cool September

Professor of Critical Media and Cultural Studies Lisa Tillmann’s reaction to 9/11 was, for her, atypical. “I went completely blank,” she said. “People around me were wracked with grief and/or anger, but I had an overwhelming feeling of numbness.” A few days later she visited two gay friends who had placed American flag decals on their trucks, as many did following 9/11 to convey patriotism and solidarity.

Given the discriminatory attitudes and public policy towards the LGBT community in 2001, Tillmann recognized that her friends had every right to feel ambivalent about their country. Yet they grieved deeply alongside their fellow Americans. The experience moved Tillmann to write a short story. She has since translated that story into a film she has titled Remembering a Cool September, which will premiere at this year’s Global Peace Film Festival (GPFF).